Tag: FOMO

“FOMO is experienced as a clearly fearful attitude towards the possibility of failing to exhaust available opportunities and missing the expected joy associated with succeeding in doing so. Simply put, it is concentration of attention on the empty half of the glass.” as defined by Dr. Dan Herman who first identified and named FOMO

Decision making in humans is fairly complicated. Thanks to the attribution of 9 factors viz. Money, Love, Pride, Lust, Aspirations, Family, Communities, Faith, Religion etc., unlike animals where it’s mainly Survival, Food & Family. This might seem to be untrue but, we have always in some way or the other, displayed the FOMO syndrome.

Brands and Marketers have also paid attention to the moral aspects of FOMO to capitalize on this trait of human behaviour. FOMO helps marketers to use those 9 key factors as key selling points in their marketing communication.

Technology and The Internet have also built a new trait into its Netizens called “Social & Communities”. Whether we’d like to admit it or not, social media has fundamentally changed our culture. This is clearly visible in the way people share and consume content. Citizens of the internet don’t want to miss anything and are constantly try to impress others with their ability to stay up to date with evolving stories and trends. Researchers and behavioural psychologists believe this cultural desire to be relevant is tied to a Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). As marketers, it’s important to understand how FOMO can be leveraged for maximum results.

Let’s look at a routine day of a 30-year-old married Investment Banker, Vinod. His wife Supriya, loves Ranveer Singh and is keen to watch the new movie “Bajirao Mastani”. Vinod receives an email from his favourite movie ticketing portal on the day of the release of the movie showing live ticket availability of the new movie “Bajirao Mastani” in his favourite theatre. The email shows the 10:30 pm show as “Filling Fast” and he chooses to book the tickets immediately. This is a FOMO at play!!

Another classic example is the discount offered by the Cable Television for renewing his subscription before the due date, a saving of Rs.350/- on a yearly Rs.5500/- package. That’s a sweet deal, isn’t it?

How to effectively use FOMO in Email:

Exclusivity – OnePlus uses an invite-only system to buy its phones, it does narrow down the buyers. But it also enhances aspirations and word of mouth.

Social – Ease of sharing content on social channels, encouraging customers to share on social media and thus, exposing your offer to newer audiences.

Behavioural – Serve the right offer at the right time using analytics and thus, engaging more effectively.

Key trends for 2016 and pointers for FOMO – (source – article by Robert Allen in Smartinsights.com)

Mobile will be the most popular device for internet access. Smartphones usage for internet access and social media shall increase exponentially along with emerging devices such as Smart TVs, Smart Watches, and Game Consoles etc.